Seris escorts the three injured witnesses into a sheltered adjoining recess, where folded blankets and a dry brazier offer privacy. She remains nearby, but keeps the guards beyond the arch.
Beneath the dripping arch, the damaged ledger page lies between Sil’Thalis and Bren, held flat by a smooth stone. The fortress review continues in muted voices beyond the gallery.
Bren
I am not going to use this page as a verdict against you. It records what happened, and I will let it remain distinct from what you chose afterward.
Rain ticks against the stone. Bren studies the torn edge, then the separate witness sheets, keeping her hands clear of both the ledger and Sil’Thalis.
Bren
What was done to you matters. What you did to others matters. Neither truth has to erase the other, and neither gives me authority over your account.
Seris Vaun
The witnesses are resting. I will keep the recess clear unless they ask for me, and the review will not reach this arch without your call.
Bren
The page can wait. So can the fortress, for a little while. If you want to speak, I will listen without turning your words into another record.
“"read the ledgers closely" I tell Bren plainly. I explain if it was a adverge I drow I brought into custody they where not hurt, normally. I explain most domini where normally brutally hurt. Those who where related to ruling Domini, their treatment was normally lethal. The adverge inquisitor would let guilty domini was. Anyone from house Xar was also met with a fatal en. I believed the more brutal I became, that when I needed to take a mission involving someone not related to the Domini house it self, their soft treatment was hidden. People where still talking about my previous atrocity. I say it all plainly knowing the monster I am. However wanting everyone who left me to rot to suffer in some form.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Sil’Thalis draws the copied ledgers closer and reads them line by line, comparing injury marks, names, ranks, and omissions against the separate account of his captivity.
Sil'Thalis
Read them closely, Bren. When I brought an ordinary drow into custody, they were normally not hurt. Most Domini were hurt brutally. Those related to ruling Domini were normally treated lethally.
Sil'Thalis
The average inquisitor let guilty Domini walk. Anyone from House Xar was met with a fatal end. I believed that the more brutal I became, the more hidden their soft treatment was when a mission involved someone outside Domini itself.
Rain slips from the arch as his finger follows the columns. The ledger’s language remains cold, but the pattern is plain beside his own testimony and the fortress’s abandoned records.
Sil'Thalis
People were still talking about my previous atrocity. I know what that makes me. I know the monster I am, and I am saying it plainly.
Sil'Thalis
I still want everyone who left me to rot to suffer in some form. I will not dress that desire up as justice.
Bren
Then I will record the distinction honestly: the harm you endured, the harm you chose, and the suffering you now want are separate truths. I will not make one excuse the others.
“I ask the injured witnesses to testify”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Sil'Thalis
I ask each of you to testify, in your own words. Say only what you personally remember, and stop whenever you choose.
Seris opens the sheltered recess to the gallery, while Bren sets three fresh sheets apart from the damaged ledger. The witnesses enter by choice and take separate places.
the broad-shouldered man
I was bound after refusing an order. My wrist broke when they tightened the restraint. No report asked why I refused.
the thin woman
They forced my knee against the stone and called my pain resistance. I remember the officer, the room, and the silence afterward.
the older man
The bindings stayed on me for three days. I heard others asking for water, then heard their names omitted when the records were read.
Bren records each account on its own sheet, marking uncertainty without joining the stories. Sil’Thalis’s burned palm suddenly flares, and numbness spreads up his wrist as the witness-mark answers.
Seris Vaun
Their testimony is received separately, by choice and without custody. I will record the pain in your hand as the cost of bringing it into the open.
Quest Complete
Ensure the injured witnesses are heard
Skill Upgrade: Medicine Fair→Good